Ireland's epic year in pictures - and how they were shot

From red weather warnings in Musgrave Park to the picturesque backdrop of the Stade de France, photographer James Crombie has enjoyed a front-row seat to the agony and ecstasy of Irish sport for 18 years.

It has been a year like no other for sport on the island of Ireland, with the national rugby team retaining their Six Nations title, and athletes from both Northern Ireland and Ireland earning medals on the world stage at the Olympics in Paris.

As a stand-out 2024 draws to a close, one of local sport's top photographers shares an insight into the hair-raising and awe-inspiring rollercoaster that is his world.

Daniel Wiffen became the first athlete from Northern Ireland to win Olympic gold in 36 years as he surged to victory in the 800m freestyle final for Ireland.

Wiffen followed that up with a bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle and ended his Olympics with his first open water swimming marathon in the River Seine.

"We were so convinced he was going to win two gold medals to be honest, but to win a gold and a bronze is just an amazing achievement," said Crombie, who has worked at Inpho Sports Photography since 2006.

"Obviously Wiffen talked the talk and actually delivered because sometimes people talk the talk and don't deliver."

Medallists in Paris got to do the 'Walk of Champions', a catwalk down the Trocadero towards the Eiffel Tower, and that is where Crombie captured this moment as Wiffen replicated his iconic glasses with his Olympic medals.

"There was a mad crowd, and when dealing with Irish athletes I'd use my Irish accent as much as I can. I just wave my hands and shout 'Irish photographer' and 'Irish over here', to try and get their attention.

"When Daniel came to the end I was trying to come up with something to say to him to get a picture, I'm shouting to him 'pretend like they're your glasses'.

"He just put the two medals up for a split second and that's the picture, I was delighted to be able to capture it."

Crombie's sun-soaked summer in Paris soon became a distant memory when he found himself covering back-to-back Young Munster and Munster Rugby fixtures during a red rainfall warning at Musgrave Park in October.

"That was one of the worst days of rain," he continued.

"I remember knowing that I was going to be outside for the guts of five hours and I was going to get drowned.

"I actually brought three sets of clothes. I got soaked to the skin, there wasn't a bit of me that was dry, so I got into the car and changed everything. I had to just try not get pneumonia."

Crombie went on to explain that those brutal conditions, however, "can lead to good images".

"You don't want to be out there, but you know this is a chance to get a really strong image," he added.

"The floodlights these days are LED so they can give a pool of light. I'd seen a line-out beforehand and I wanted to capture that image. There's a bit of competition there which is good and it just all came together. I was soaked but delighted.

"That's what you have to do sometimes and coming into the worst part of the year for sports photographers, please think of us when the journalists are up there in the nice warm press boxes with their hand warmers, we're down in the trenches getting frozen and wet."

At the Paris Games, two-time pommel horse world champion Rhys McClenaghan achieved his life-long dream of becoming an Olympic gold medallist.

"For me, it's brilliant to be able to shoot these different sports we get at the Olympics, because 40% of my year is GAA, 40% rugby, 10% horse racing and 10% soccer," said Crombie.

"So, when we get to shoot gymnastics and the things these guys can do, you can't ask a rugby player to do a handstand, but you know when you get Rhys on board you can get away with something like that.

"I just said to him, 'Rhys, do as a handstand', so he put his phone on the ground and did one. Just in that split second it worked perfectly. The yin and the yang with the Eiffel Tower and him. It was just a nice image to capture.

"You have to hope you're on the right lens when something like that happens, but I knew if it was going to be a handstand I needed to be as wide as possible."

If there was a name to encapsulate the whirlwind of emotions that last summer brought us, that would be Rhasidat Adeleke.

Despite coming agonisingly close to a bronze medal in the women's 400m final, and again in the women's 4x400m relay final, Adeleke established herself as a rising star in the world of athletics.

"It had come very close to the end of the Olympics and Inpho brought three photographers over," said Crombie, who was working at his third Olympic Games.

"I had the opportunity then to be a bit more creative. It's probably not a stereotypically good image, but it's a good news image because it says exactly what happened."

Crombie added that he felt Adeleke was the "most unfortunate Irish competitor at the Olympics".

"Two fourth places in track and field which we don't traditionally do well in, but she was amazing.

"At the Olympics, track and field is the is the big show, so you want to be there.

"I think we're very close to breaking that seal and getting a medal. The odds are that it will be Adeleke, so it's going to be really exciting to follow her."

As Crombie previously mentioned, photographers enjoy the chance to get a bit more creative in their efforts when covering alternative sports, like when Team Ireland's Ciara McGing competed in the women's 10m platform event in Paris.

Crombie discussed the ways in which he can use alternate methods to see what "works in certain scenarios" that he isn't typically used to.

"It's a multiple exposure image," Crombie explained.

"We set the camera up, you try to keep it steady and then it will take say 40 pictures in the space of a second and you get that kind of image.

"When [McGing] was competing you kind of want to try to get something unique out of it.

"Again, I'm not a regular on the 10-meter platform media circus, but it was just an interesting image that you try in those scenarios, to come up with something that works and I think that image is kind of interesting."

In July, Armagh lifted the Sam Maguire for the first time since 2002 after defeating Galway 1-11 to 0-13 at Croke Park.

But when that full-time whistle finally blows and euphoria sparks, where do you go as a photographer?

"I'm going to be controversial, but you go after the stars, and Rian is the star," said Crombie.

"Everyone in the GAA knows Rian O'Neill and what a complete footballer he is."

O'Neill played a pivotal role in recent years in Armagh's pursuit of All-Ireland glory after a gruelling 22 years of hurt.

"Like when journalists are doing interviews after games, you're going to want to speak to Rian as opposed to the third-choice goalie. That's in the back of my mind," he continued.

"I got a very similar image two years ago, David Clifford with his mum, who has since sadly died. It was his mum and dad wrapped around him. So, you like to think that you're capturing a bit of family history.

"This is a lovely moment, you can imagine the amount of work that parents do to get their son or daughter to a level in sport where they can achieve the ultimate goal, and in GAA, the All-Ireland final is the ultimate goal.

"For the amount of effort his mum put in and then for him to share that embrace at the final whistle, you can imagine there's a lot of emotions."